The day 1 sights of AFA's Air, Space & Cyber Conference [PHOTOS]

WASHINGTON — The region’s largest Air Force trade show opened Monday at National Harbor, Maryland, amid uncertainty about the path forward for some of the service’s major initiatives.

Though Air Force officials stopped short of making any major announcements on day one of the three-day event, hosted by the Air and Space Forces Association, companies arrived from near and far to pitch their wares to Air Force and Space Force top brass.

Here’s a peek at the aircraft and weapons on display as the conference gets underway.

The Air Force Research Laboratory displays a missile designed under its “Angry Tortoise” program, a partnership with Ursa Major, that looks to develop hypersonic missiles that can be deployed en masse for millions of dollars less than more traditional munitions, Sept. 22, 2025. (Rachel Cohen/Breaking Defense)

Anduril’s YFQ-44A Fury drone, an entrant in the Collaborative Combat Aircraft drone wingman program, sits on display, Sept. 22, 2025. (Daniel Woolfolk/Breaking Defense)

General Atomics’ YFQ-42A, another CCA entrant, sits on display, Sept. 22, 2025. (Rachel Cohen/Breaking Defense)

Sierra Nevada Corp.’s Battery Revolving Adaptive Weapons Launcher (BRAWLR), a reconfigurable counter-drone system in use by at least one classified foreign customer, makes its defense trade show debut, Sept. 22, 2025. (Rachel Cohen/Breaking Defense)

JetCat shows several small jet engines designed to power munitions or kamikaze drones at a fraction of the cost of larger engines, Sept. 22, 2025. (Rachel Cohen/Breaking Defense)